


all you love is sunlight

by JustCharlieBruh



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén
Genre: Gen, bad things happen bingo: villainous rescue, river song voice: spoilers, what a delightful bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-10
Updated: 2019-04-10
Packaged: 2020-01-10 19:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18414809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustCharlieBruh/pseuds/JustCharlieBruh
Summary: In which it's implied, but not confirmed. Either way, Ortega hurts.





	all you love is sunlight

Charge gets separated from the others. That’s the first sign of things going horribly, horrible wrong. He loses his team in the middle of a sea of blue-gray bodies, hears Herald scream out his name, before he’s surrounded on all sides.

 

 _Shit,_ he thinks as they wail on him on all sides, _is this really how I’m going out?_   
_  
_One gets him good in the head, his vision whiting out for just a moment as the hits continue to rain down upon him. He lets out a shuddering breath. He can’t go out like this, not when there’s so much left to do. A smile flashes beneath his eyelids, too many teeth and too wide, but happy and—

 

_I just want to see Kit smile like that again._

 

He strikes out, sending a burst of electricity. A few fall, but more take their place and some part of him can’t help but be grateful that at least these guys only have their bare fists. He blocks one, then another, and another, until he’s back on stable footing. There are still about six or so eyeing him, but he’s _standing_.   
  
(the smell of ozone covers the stench of marigolds and he’s far too transfixed on his battle to notice the fog; that’s another of his mistakes)

 

He’s standing and surrounded and he’s already plotting out his next move when—

 

Those around him drop. Like stones in a lake, the Re-Genes look like they could sink below the asphalt surface, like they _want_ to, and he stands above them. Confused, aching, suspicious, he stands tall and searching for his savior. Words of gratitude are ready on his tongue, taking up the space of platitudes for a grieving mother, her son ushered away by a government he never really wanted to pledge himself to, but when he finally sees his hero, the words dissolve to ash. His appreciation tastes sour, closer to hatred than anything else as black combat boots step through the sudden fog he hadn’t noticed before.

 

The Master of the Hellish Yard slinks around bodies gracefully, the cape only adding to the theatrics as it swirls around them, dripping shadow off their shoulders. They stop barely an arm’s length away, out of his reach, and just simply tilt their head to the side. Their horns glint in the sunlight.

 

“Now this,” and the voice that comes out is distorted. Full of tones both familiar and not and the stone that is his heart sinks to his feet. He curses that small part of his brain, the one reminding him of proof (the villain _knew_ about his epilepsy when no one else did. Only Kit and Chen and Anathema, but this villain is not Chen— their bodies do not match. And Kit has been acting odd since they came back, but of course they would, they were taken and had unspeakable things done. Things they wouldn’t admit, not to him— Kit or Anathema, either way, he is being betrayed and he has yet to make peace with that) that he refuses to believe. He can hear the smugness in their tone, “this is something I didn’t expect. The Rangers taking on a group of the Special Directive meant for little old me?”

 

“For you?” He is run ragged, mind already spinning new threads, “why would the Special Directive be after _you_ ?”   
  
And the bastard only hums, cape flapping as they turn to motion to the Re-Genes still on the ground. The fog is fading now, he can see them clearer, how they cry and silently mouth words he cannot make out. It makes him sick, guilt burning in his chest. His shaky exhale is hidden under their almost maniacal chuckle. His fists clench automatically at the sound.

 

“You haven’t answered my question.”  
  
“It’s not one that can be answered in the middle of the street nor one so easily answered when the rest of your team is on the way.” The laughter cuts so abruptly it sends chills up his spine. Red glass glints under the Los Diablos sun, the tips of the horns almost sparkling as they step closer to him. It takes everything in him not to tackle them and ruin this perilous balance they have now. The bastard comes closer and closer, until they’re able to whisper as his team comes around the corner, “if you really want the answers you seek, you’ll need to kill me.”

 

And they whisper one more thing that rings louder in his ears than Herald’s surprised shouts or Steel’s charging attack towards them. It leaves him hollow as they slink away into the fog and smoke with a cheeky wave goodbye. He sees Argent swipe at them, only for her to miss and he doesn’t register Steel speaking to him until the man steps into view, his lips moving slowly.

 

“Was anything done to you, Charge?” _Are you fit for active duty?_

 

“I’m fine.” No, he isn’t.

 

“You’re absolutely sure?” He’s not, he doesn’t know what to believe anymore. The suspicion grows hot in his chest, overtaking his guilt and replacing it with hurt confusion.

 

(no matter what, he’s being betrayed.)

 

_“Think you’re up for the challenge, old man?”_

 

And he sees double before he closes his eyes. The Master of the Hellish Yard there before him, mocking and unjust and too familiar. Kit in their Sidestep gear, eyes as bright as starlight, still so in awe of the world and its beauty, hidden behind a cocky facade that never failed to make him smile.

 

They overlap one another, leaving him with an answer he doesn’t want and more questions that threaten to drag him down. Steel is still talking, still asking questions as Herald and even Argent stand off to the side, worried. He hears none of it, the mess of his heartbeat and white noise filling his ears until he can no longer hear those whispered words that beckon his downfall.

**Author's Note:**

> leave a kudos if you thought it was alright


End file.
